Views from the Edge of Edinburgh.

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Any budding film-makers should take a look at thiscollection.org. The project has amassed one hundred Edinburgh-centric pieces of poetry and then encouraged people to film reponses to the works.

One screening has already been successfully staged at the Forest Café and another is due for late March, so there is still time and poems to spare, for a contribution to the cine-fest.

Leith has been represented in both poetry and film with no less than three works already completed for the project: Lunchtime In Leith by Martin Raymond and Landlocked In The Port Of Leith by Simon Jackson, to name two…

There are still pieces to film and anyone with Scorcese tendencies or an Aronofsky bent (sounds painful) are welcome to join the fray. A number of film and poetry workshops have been and are still taking place at the community section of Tollcross Primary School if you feel you need extra skills or encouragement from the project leader – an irrepressible lady called Stefanie Tan. Resist her enthusiasm if you dare!

Well, I’ve been following this story for almost a year and even now – not all of Leith seems to be in the know regarding the application to build a biomass power plant at the docks by Forth Energy.

When I camped out at the Leith Community Centre pre-Christmas in order to record some audio vox-pops on the subject – I was met with blank looks or at best an acceptance of a fait accompli. However, the fat lady is only warming up and if her musical trillings have not yet been heard then there is still debate and decision to be made on both sides of the argument.

Indeed, Forth Energy have only just made their application and there is a 28 day consulting period in which the public have an opportunity to make its’ opinion known to the Scottish Government in writing or by email. Obviously, it is in the interest of Forth Energy to engage with the people of Leith as a legal requirement and to that end will hold further exhibitions around the port for the 28 day period. I shall include both the exhibition venues and dates, along with the government contact details at the end of this piece.

Just before disappearing into the swirling blizzards of north-east Scotland for Yuletide – I was fortunate enough to secure and record audio interviews with Calum Wilson, the Managing Director of Forth Energy along with Labour’s Malcolm Chisholm and Shirley-Anne Somerville of the SNP. Mr Chisholm and Ms Somerville are leading a cross-party effort to stymie the application on environmental concerns and hold a moritorium in order to fully scrutinize the green credentials of the proposals.

The interviews will be posted here on Firehorse Findings in the next week. Interested parties have until the 11th of March to write to the government with their views on the proposals. Be reminded that you can still access my original articles on this subject, here on the blog.

If you wish to see the exhibitions by Forth Energy regarding the plant you can view them at the following locations: –

Any comments you wish to make will be taken into consideration when the Scottish Government makes the decision on whether to grant permission to Forth Energy or not. These comments should be forwarded to: –

If you want to add your voice to the debate about the proposed biomass plant in Leith – pop along to Leith Community Centre on Thursday 16th December between 1100 and 1300, when I will be waiting to hear from you.

For a couple of hours I shall be on hand to record your comments for posterity and for the Firehorse Findings blog. Any particular relevent, erudite and clean(!) musings could end up in a short audio documentary that I am currently producing.

Forth Energy have released details of their second round of public consultations, with exhibitions of amended proposals due at different venues throughout the week commencing Monday 8th November.

If you want a chance to view said proposals then make your way to any one, or all, of the events listed below. In January, Forth Energy will submit their application to the Scottish Parliament, whereupon the public have the right to make their views of the plans known. If you want to make an informed opinion, then it is advisable to take the opportunity to engage with the company and their representatives.

Any information gleaned from these events, or indeed your opinion, would be received with interest here at Firehorse Findings, so please feel free to comment.

We hope to catch up with the MD of Forth Energy, Calum Wilson, in the next week and any subsequent interview should be forthcoming on the blog soon after.

It is ironic that as we tentatively gathered in the bright, September sun to press the flesh and introduce ourselves to each other in a neighbourly fashion, sharing our hopes for a progressive sense of community, togetherness and finding out who brought beer; that we were blissfully ignorant of the armed robbery at one of the flats in Salamander Court some five hours earlier.

It wasn’t until I randomly checked the BBC wesite the next day that I tripped over the fact. There was no further online word until Tuesday, by which time the Scotsman had caught up. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries and a description of the offenders was given to the local police.

The BBQ itself went rather well; numerous residents dropped by for a chat, a drink and a burger. If fact, it was still going strong after four hours and the light was fading. There are plans to try and mobilise the area again for a small event in November and no doubt, there will be discussions about local security and vigilence.

Personally, I would like to thank Rob, Ilona, Erin and Alvin for being the stalwarts of the party and welcoming all subsequent attendees. Let’s hope the area sees more of the congenial interaction and less of the opportunistic thuggery…

No, it has nothing to do with Jim Morrison’s missus, but a rather brave (considering the recent weather) decision to hold a street, or more accurately, terrace party for the budding community at Salamander Court. Oh, and Her Majesty happens to be yours truly, as this is my burgeoning home territory, no need to genuflect…

The poster tells all and all residents and tenants are welcome – I have not been told of a Plan B, lest the cooling September temperatures decide to plummet, but you can always wear a jumper, take a brolly, lifeboat, wellies…

Ed Stack gives us a quick run down of where to find the holy grail of retro at the end of July – in Stirlingshire, of all places. Doune Castle hosts a plethora of acts including: Mersault, Withered Hand, Hidden Masters, Lipsync For A Lullaby amongst many others. Apart from the musical contributors there were will be performance poetry, open mic, philosophical musings and no doubt quite a few punters re-enacting some Monty Python gags…

Said “happening” is at the tail-end of July so you still have time to invest in a ticket n’ tent. You can find more details on their lovely swirly psychadelic site: http://dounetherabbithole.co.uk

There promises to be some fine tunes, virtuous nibbles AND it’s all in a good cause – check out the website for some nifty animation too.

Mr Ed

He’s no slow pony is Mr Stack, but a non-stop messenger of music and general niceness and we hope to find out what Ten Tracks has in store for us in Embra throughout August. Much of it will no doubt take place at the Roxy – but we shall stay tuned…

Ten Tracks supremo Ed Stack will be recording a new natter with us here at FirehorseFindings very soon and telling us about a weekend in Stirlingshire that boasts an impressive musical line-up as well as summery larks harking back to blissed-out festivals of yesteryear…performance poetry anyone?

Wellies Ahoy

If you want to jump the gun on details and invest in a ticket n’ tent in time for the end of July – you can find more details on their swirly psychadelic site: www.dounetherabbithole.co.uk

I will be catching up with Ed on Friday 23rd and the resulting chat should be posted soon after, here on FirehorseFindings – keep an eye and ear out, or take a tour of the site detailed above.

Well this IS exclusive to the blog – for the next 3-4 hours anyway. I had a chat with CiW and their manager, Lloyd Meredith of peenko fame the other day in a very noisy room at Leith FM. You may notice some choice ambient sounds in the background from time to time, but it was a nice wee blether none the less. We would have melted if the window had been closed!

The guys provided a couple of tracks, as listed below and will be appearing at The Liquid Ship in Glasgow on Thursday 1st July – a free event, if you are up for the trip.

…but not for long?

I’m hoping to have this chat broadcast on Leith Talk (Thursday 1st July edition), with Alan Dudley – so I better get those proverbial wheelie shoes on…